Columbus, Ohio-based Echo Spirits Distilling Co. is proud to showcase its bourbon blending skills once again via the latest release in its highly regarded Engineer Series.
Echo Spirits Engineer Series Batch 25A – Trail Mix is the evolution of a series Joe Bidinger and Nikhil Sharoff, both former engineers turned whiskey distillers, see as a bourbon blending workshop, a place to think outside the box of the regular brown spirits they produce. They take quality-sourced bourbons from other distilleries and transform them into something new and unique. Each batch is a masterpiece, with its own distinct mash bill, tasting profile, and back story.
“The Engineer Series came from our desire to innovate constantly and try to surprise people,” notes Bidinger. “While our own whiskeys age, we don’t want to blindly dump barrels together and label them our own. It’s important to us to remain transparent about where our whiskey is coming from while creating something new and unique each time.
“We try to treat individual whiskey barrels like ingredients in a dish. And we love to use different ingredients each time.”
For the Engineer Series, which debuted last year, the distillery team experiments with various combinations until they find that final sweet spot they can engineer into something special. As all this blending comes together, so does the batch’s name. For Echo Spirits, the tasting notes lead to visualizations of how a particular bottling might come to life in something they are doing, such as smoking a cigar or enjoying a nice dessert.
Batch 25A – Trail Mix, like its Engineer Series siblings, blends elements from other distilleries – in this case, it consists of two identical Kentucky-based Bardstown Bourbon Company mashbills (60% Corn/36% Rye/4% Barley), both aged over five years. What is particularly unique about it, however, is that this is an evolution of the series – one of the two components was double-oaked by Echo Spirits for an additional 1 year and 1 month by dumping that portion into low-char, heavy toast New American oak from the Speyside cooperage.
“The double oak process, for us, reflects the creative expansion of the Engineer Series,” says Sharoff. “We believe that low-char, heavy toast New American oak truly provides Trail Mix with a distinctive taste profile.”
Seen as an ideal whiskey for being out on the trail that drinks lower than its proof, it is like trail mix in that all the individual components taste great on their own, but blended together, they are much better.
The Engineer Series Batch 25A Trail Mix, bottled at 113 proof, has a 5-year age statement. 357 bottles are available at the Columbus-based distillery and throughout its distribution network for $52.95 and online for nationwide shipment for $59.99.
ABOUT ECHO SPIRITS ENGINEER SERIES BATCH 25A – TRAIL MIX
5-Year Blend Of Bourbon Whiskeys, 113 Proof (56.5% ABV). 357 bottles are available at the Ohio distillery and throughout its distribution network for $52.95 and nationwide online for $59.99.
Nose: The aromatics open with considerations of honey-roasted peanuts, butterscotch, and milk chocolate, drawing one in to find further notes of geranium (floral), a hint of spearmint, and coffee.
Palate: Soft and approachable, this bourbon quickly reveals why it is named Trail Mix. Dried fruits like cranberries and raisins immediately embrace your taste buds, supported by deep notes of dark chocolate, salty peanuts, and cashews. Oak also presents itself alongside a hint of lemongrass.
Finish: This whiskey hangs for a moderate amount of time before the fade begins, leaving you with a desire for it to remain a tad bit longer. The double oak nature shines here in particular, alongside a subtle nod of raisins.